When our co-founders disagree during a session day, how do you use a formal charter of trust to resolve the dispute without alienating the rest of the leadership team?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Founder misalignment can quickly derail a leadership team if it is not handled with a structured framework. To prevent this, we establish a formal covenant at the start of our engagement, which we call Our Charter. This charter is built on three essential pillars: trust, being on the same page with love and respect, and committing to strategy and structure. When a disagreement arises between co-founders during a session day, I refer back to this handshake agreement. We step out of the emotional debate and ground ourselves in these core pillars. I then guide the founders through the IDS® process to identify the root cause of the disagreement. We discuss the issue openly and honestly, ensuring that the conversation remains constructive and focused on what is best for the business, not personal egos. By using the Accountability Chart as our neutral guide, we determine which seat has the ultimate decision-making authority for the area in question. This objective approach keeps the rest of the leadership team from feeling stuck in the middle of founder friction and ensures we reach a healthy, aligned resolution.